13 November 2013 - Vancouver, Canada - fSONA Networks, manufacturer of the SONAbeam line of free space optical wireless products, today announced that their products are ideal for high frequency trading firms who need extremely low latency communications in order to remain competitive.

High Frequency Trading firms execute trades using exceptionally fast, high-efficiency computers that are often set up in close proximity to an exchange or trading pool. Additionally, they use low latency Gigabit wireless links manufactured by fSONA to connect locations with the highest speed, lowest latency links possible.

Fiber is often considered the premier option for speed sensitive networks but the truth is fiber can actually be slower than wireless. This is because we think of the speed of light as constant but the actual speed of light depends on the medium in which the light is propagating. Traveling through the air, the speed of light is roughly 50% faster than the speed of light in fiber. This 50% lower overall latency means a free space optical link can outrun fiber in as little as 20 meters.

“fSONA offers a superior solution to HFT firms who rely on the speed of their communications in order to remain competitive,” commented Andrew Grieve, President & CEO of fSONA. “At 2.5 Gbps capacity, the SONAbeam series of products delivers the highest capacity wireless connection in a single link solution and with a latency even lower than fiber, SONAbeam gets data to its destination in the shortest possible time.”

By transmitting through the atmosphere, SONAbeam eliminates the substantial costs and delays of digging up streets and sidewalks to install fiber, and unlike other wireless solutions, the SONAbeam is immune to electro- magnetic (EM) and radio-frequency (RF) interference which means no licensing is required. With no licenses to negotiate and no trenches to dig, SONAbeam installation can be complete in less than a day and always uses the shortest path between two points - line of sight.

About fSONA
fSONA Networks is an innovative provider of next generation optical wireless (also known as Free Space Optics, or FSO) solutions that utilise a flexible point-to-point architecture and protocol transparent design. Founded in 1997 with a goal to develop premier, low-cost, eye-safe, optical transmission products for the broadband access market, fSONA has created the toughest, most powerful free space optics systems ever brought to market - the SONAbeam® family.

For more information about fSONA, SONAbeam or Free-Space Optical Wireless, please contact: